I Was An Alien Cat Toy (32 page)

So they rode back into the village bearing some extremely gory trophies. As the passers-by realised

what Gredar was carrying on the back of his keriv, they stopped and stared. Word quickly got around and

soon they had a small crowd of admiring day-neh, all wanting to see the boril’s head and touch the feathers.

Karwa seemed to be a tiny bit miffed that his amazing kill was getting so little attention, but in reality, the

kizaz venom was actually useful while the boril was just a curiosity. The bird head would rot long before the

venom stopped saving lives.

Gredar had to take charge eventually. The crowd was making the kerivs nervous, jumping around and

threatening to bolt. He spotted one of his nephews and called out to him to run and fetch Martek, and then

firmly insisted on them all being allowed to progress to his mother’s house.

It was pretty cool though, Temin thought as Gredar pushed the keriv through the onlookers. Karwa let

slip that it was Temin who’d killed the boril, and that made him someone everyone wanted to talk to, to

touch, as if the glory of the deed could rub off on them. Suddenly someone set up a yowling, and other day-

neh joined in, throwing their heads back. Startled by the noise, it took Temin a few seconds to recognise it as

singing.

“What is this?” he asked, twisting around and staring up at Gredar.

“Is song of hunting. Of great day-neh hunter, Rogor. But they sing ‘T’meen’, not ‘Rogor’.” Then he

chuckled.

“Is funny, this song?”

“No, is not funny. Is funny, Rogar is female.” Gredar poked him in the side. “But Rogor is great

hunter. Long time ago.”

“Huh.” Temin chose to accept it as a compliment, but it was still shefting embarrassing.

With the singing and the looking and the fact more and more day-neh were coming out onto the

street, they just weren’t moving. Any minute now, Gredar’s mother was going to come out and demand what

the sheft was going on and then they’d all be in trouble.

“T’meen! Gredar!”

Temin looked across the sea of faces and saw Martek waving to them. He waved back. “Come! Look

what we have!”

“T’meen, you must come! Thing...talking thing! Speaking for you!”

‘Talking thing’? “What...oh, sheft.”

Gredar put his hand on Temin’s shoulder. “What?”

“I have to get down. I need to...help me, Gredar! Please, I need to speak to Martek!”

Though obviously puzzled, Gredar began to push and shout at people to move. “Let him down!

T’meen must get down! Please, let him through!”

Someone took the reins of their keriv, and Gredar jumped down, holding his arms out for Temin.

“Come.”

He swung Temin off the keriv, and up onto his shoulders. “Karwa, take them to the house!”

Temin felt a little bad for leaving Karwa in the lurch like that, but mostly he was fluttering with

excitement. ‘Talking thing’—did Martek mean the radio?

Martek grabbed his leg and stared up at him. “Hurry. Thing talking for many strikes. Is good for

T’meen?”

“I don’t know. Come on, Gredar.”

It was much quieter in Martek’s house, and Temin was conscious that he smelled of smoke and blood

and the stinky kizaz. But Martek didn’t seem to care. He rushed off and returned with the pack Temin had

left in his safe-keeping—and from it, Temin could hear Jeng’s voice coming over the radio’s speakers. He

snatched up the pack and yanked the radio out of the pack. He pressed the voice transmitter. “Jeng! Jeng, it’s

me!”

But the message was recorded. He set the radio down and the three of them listened. He’d come in

near the end of the message, and it quickly looped to the beginning. “Temin, this is Jeng. We’ve received

your message—we know you’re alive. A relay satellite has been set in orbit above your position, and is being

monitored. If you get this message, send a signal. A terrestrial craft will land and collect you soon after that.

The satellite will be monitored for at least a year—longer if I can swing it. Please...send the signal. I miss

you.” His lover cleared his throat. “Anyway...Pilot Misan Jeng, signing off.” He gave the date and time. The

message had been set up three days ago. Fluctuations in solar ionisation and cloud cover probably meant the

signal had been having trouble penetrating.

Temin turned the speaker off, staring at the radio. “I can go home,” he whispered. “I can go home.”

~~~~~~~~

Gredar looked at Martek—his friend was radiating worry more than excitement or curiosity. He

tapped T’meen on the cheek with his tail. “What this say?”

T’meen turned to him, eyes bright and wide. “I can go home. Is Cheng, my...my grooming mate. Is

good friend. Is come for me.”

“You...leave? Now?” It was a struggle to keep his voice calm, to appear unaffected. “Is good, yes?”

T’meen caught his tail in his hands and rubbed his face against it. “Is good...is bad also. Huu-man

come to this place. No good. I...miss this place. No good. Miss daiyne. Miss you.” He bit his upper lip as he

did sometimes when he was trying to think. “Maybe...I not go? If huu-man come, kill daiyne, is sad. Is very

bad thing. I....” He rubbed his face against Gredar’s tail again.

Gredar put his arm around T’meen’s shoulders and hugged him. He didn’t want him to go, of course

not. But he knew how very sad his friend had been at losing his friends and family. “When will Cheng

come?”

T’meen rubbed his eyes. “Uh...soon. When I...say, send message. He wait long time for me. Make

Cheng wait, is bad thing. But...go away, leave Gredar...is bad thing also.” He pressed his face against

Gredar’s side, and began to shake a little.

Martek coughed. “I’ll make some pkite, bring some water.” He sniffed. “Is that kizaz I smell?”

“Yes. And he killed a boril.”

“He
what
?”

Despite everything, it was amusing to see Martek’s shock. “Tell you later. I think this is more

important.”

“Yes...Gredar, if he brings his kind here...we have no defences.”

“He knows that. We need to talk, that’s all.”

He shooed Martek away, and then he changed position so T’meen was sitting between his legs. He

began to stroke his back, and made soothing noises, but his heart wasn’t calm at all. This was the last thing

he expected—he was sure it was the last thing T’meen expected. He had an urge to smash the evil machine

sitting in front of him, remove the choice, the message it contained that meant his friend was going to leave,

but that wasn’t fair. T’meen had a right to a life with his own people.

T’meen straightened up after a few moments, his eyes red and his breathing strained. “Sorry. Just...is

surprised. Worried.”

“Yes. You must go soon? This strike? This sun pass? When?”

“Uh...I can say. I choose. Not this strike, not this sun pass. I miss Cheng very much.”

“You luff him?”

T’meen nodded. “Yes. Is to me like...you and Jilen? Maybe? Like brother, only...fucking too.”

Gredar was a little surprised at that news. “Not brother...like brother? Good friend?”

“More than good friend.” He made an exasperated noise. “Daiyne not have word. Is forever thing.”

“Ah.” That concept Gredar had so much trouble with. “Then you must go. You get sick, if you miss

him too much.”

“Get sick miss you too much!” His hair, come loose from the leather tie, swung wildly around his

face as he shook his head. “I don’t want to go! I want to go home! Is....” He touched his fists together then

yanked them apart. “Pull two ways. Understand?”

“Yes. Is time to think, T’meen. No hurry this sun pass.”

“Why now, Gredar? Why it come now, not long time ago? Is happy now.” He tried to smile. “Is great

hunter now.”

Gredar could only rub his face on T’meen’s head.
Yes, you are. Great hunter, good friend.
But he had

no answers to offer. None at all.

~~~~~~~~

A month ago, even a week ago, if someone had asked him what he would do in this situation, Temin

would have had no hesitation. Regret, certainly, but he would have known what he wanted to do. What he

needed to do. Somehow, the hunting trip, with its friendship, its freedom, its trust, had crystallised all that

Temin loved about living with the day-neh. For the first time he had really felt at home, and at one with

them. And now he would have to give all that up because the only way to keep the day-neh safe was to keep

them a secret.

He had to explain it all to Martek, of course. Martek understood, and while he was sad at the idea of

Temin leaving, he was almost as upset about losing their pet translator of the information in the handheld.

“So many, many things to learn,” he said with a heavy sigh. “You take this thing with you?”

Temin shook his head. “No, I can leave it. I can say I lost it. We can...uh...work some more before I

go.”

Gredar rubbed his arm. “You work all the time with him. Pottery does not need you. This is more

important thing.”

“If I go, it is.”

Gredar tilted his head and regarded Temin with those huge green eyes. “I think you will go. Is best

thing.”

“How do you know when I don’t know?” Temin cried. “Gredar, I’m happy here! I...you and me....”

“Is not home, truly. Is hard for you, for huu-man. I know this thing. Is hard to be one, day-neh are

many.”

“Gredar...you’re my friend. Good friend.” He struck his chest with his fist. “Hurts, here.”

Gredar touched his own head. “Hurts here too. Jeng hurt, you think?”

“Yes,” Temin whispered. “Hurts here for Jeng too. Is same hurt...I don’t know what to do!”

He heard footsteps and turned. Karwa, looking out of breath. “Sorry, Martek. Grandmother says

Uncle Gredar must come.”

“Yes.” Gredar stood. “We all go. T’meen, you must tell Mother about this thing. Martek...?”

But Martek was already clearing up. “So much happening,” he muttered to himself, or that was what

Temin thought he was saying. “No one talked about the boril,” he added, and Temin swore he pouted.

Gredar’s mother was in her front sitting room, J’len’s two young crawling around on the floor. They

headed for Temin as soon as they spotted him, but though he did his best to pet and scratch behind their ears,

he was too upset to pay much attention. Gredar rescued him, taking Shiri onto his own lap and handing

Weikil to Karwa. His mother didn’t seem too annoyed that Gredar had headed to Martek’s first, but she

wanted to know about the boril, and Temin had to tell her all about that. Only when he was done, did Gredar

swipe at his ear and politely indicate there was something else.

“T’meen friend come. Send message.”

She sat back. “When?” There was a short exchange between mother and son where Temin thought

she was asking why she hadn’t been told and Gredar was explaining about the radio message. She turned to

Temin. “You will go? Bring huu-man here?”

“No. I mean, I guess I’ll go. Maybe,” he said when she frowned. “I won’t bring human here. Won’t

tell human about day-neh. Is worried, same as you. If...you say, I cannot go, I will stay, protect day-neh. Will

not hurt day-neh for
anything
.”

She looked at Gredar, clearly puzzled. “T’meen must go home?”

Another exchange, which got a bit lively. Karwa leaned against Temin in comfort, still carefully

scratching his niece’s belly and making her purr. “You stay, maybe? Karwa want that. Is good thing. T’meen

is my friend.”

Temin tried to smile. “Karwa is my friend too. Is sad, leave Karwa, Gredar. But...my huu-man friend

is sad, if I do not go home.”

“Hmmm. Is hard, this choice. Is sad, if you go, if you stay.”

Martek turned to the lad. “Is choice for T’meen, Karwa.”

“You like T’meen to go?”

“No! Is sad. Still many, many things to learn. T’meen is my friend. But is his choice, this thing.”

Martek was deliberately speaking slowly and clearly for Temin’s benefit, speaking to both of them, and when

he finished, he patted Temin’s hand with his tail. “Wish message not come. Make everyone sad.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it.”

Gredar and his mother had stopped talking—or arguing. She glanced at her son, and then looked at

Temin, her hands folded. “This is your choice. You stay, you are welcome. You go, we are sad. But no huu-

man must come. Understand?”

Temin nodded. “Understand. I will be careful.”

“Good. You work with Martek now. Martek....” She issued some instructions that included the

dreaded words ‘singing’ and ‘boril’, so Temin figured he was about to be on display again. “T’meen—if you

stay, I will be happy. Gredar will be happy. Many of us will be happy. Understand? You do not have to go.”

She said something else and Gredar explained more simply. “Have home here, she say. Are friend to

day-neh, yes?”

He put his arms around his friend’s waist. “Yes. Very, very much. I don’t know what to do.”

“Have a bath,” Karwa said, wiser than Temin. “Bath make
everything
better!”

Temin had to smile at that. “Yes, it probably will. Thank you, Kadit,” he said, bowing.

“You’re welcome.” Her ears perked up and she flicked her tail. “Now, go, wash. You all smell.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His mother had decided that, since it was up to T’meen to make the decision as to whether he wanted

to stay or go, the possibility of him going was to be kept quiet. The only change in his routine was that he

now spent every sun pass—all of it—at Martek’s, working furiously on helping their historian translate